13d (edited) • General discussion
Celebrate early and celebrate often
There are two habits that lie between burnout and powerful progress.
- Aligning your goals with your deepest values.
- Celebrating your progress.
I will discuss goals in a few days.
There is a rhythm for developing habits.
Cue, action, feedback, reinforcement.
I will be going into this into much more detail about habits in the classroom soon .
Much of the work we do doesn't have visual cues of completion (feedback and reinforcement). Or it is a task that is repeating with the only feedback being shame if it ISN'T done (laundry, eating vegetables), or the payoff is so far out that it doesn't feel real (investing).
Even the most disciplined will take action to completion, see the results, but do not take the time to register the success. This keeps the loop open in the background in our brains. Eventually it feels like we are constantly working, and we start burning out.
Celebrating the completion is the reinforcement that our brans need to close the file in our brains. It turns "work" into "progress". That feeling of progress is what releases the dopamine reward that reinforces that the actions were worth the effort. It also frees our mental energy for the next task.
Effective celebrating varies by the person and the task. Sometimes we celebrate just trying. Or we celebrate the 5th repetition. Small acts of recognizing the effort can be saying kind words to yourself or sharing with a supportive person. This is where having a community group that has similar goals (like this one) is helpful.
As the action becomes more automated, the celebrations will shift. They might be farther apart, or a smaller recognition. But they need to still be there. The action needs to continue to feel relevant to deeper personal goals and values, and celebrating cements the relevance. This is how life long habits are maintained.
What is one action or habit you are celebrating from 2025?
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Celebrate early and celebrate often
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